Current Deals on 42" HD Plasmas

Posted by: Rock Steady on 25 November 2008

....are just too tempting to resist.

So it must be time to upgrade my 5 year old low def Hitachi 42" plasma, to the latest full HD number.

I'm going to have a look at the Panasonic TH-42PZ80B along with the BD35 Blu ray player (£755 and £215 on Amazon currently).

Anybody got one of these already?
Thoughts on what else I should be looking at?

Also how does the Panny cope with SD Freeview broadcasts?

Posted on: 25 November 2008 by bwolke

How far away are you sitting from the tv?

If your viewing distance is more than 160,5cm/3,5 feet you're eyes can not see the difference between 1080p and 720p.

If your Hitachi television has a component input you can still very much enjoy Blu-ray.

Posted on: 25 November 2008 by RoyleBlue

Go for the Panny - really good set, but shows up broadcast quality - as per. hi-fi a good source is essential (SD is really good though0.

Posted on: 26 November 2008 by Rock Steady

Thanks for this.
Yes I do have a component input on the Hitachi, I guess viewing distance is 10 feet or so.
Can you really not tell the difference between 720p and 1080p?
Also I thought there was an issue with using component instead of HDMI in terms of the output quality from Blu Ray?
Would be alot cheaper though..

Posted on: 26 November 2008 by bwolke

According to the European Broadcast Union you can not see the difference between 720p and 1080p because after a certain distance the eyes are saturated and can not see the difference between 2 million or 8 hundred thousand pixels.

you can calculate it by using this excel sheet:
http://www.satellite-calculations.com/Video/Resolution_..._viewingdistance.xls

The maximum output of a component cable is 1080i. At 720p component will be fine. You can probably select the output on the menu of your blu-ray player.

Since you were already planning to buy the Blu-ray player I'd go for it and try it on your Hitachi plasma screen first. If it does not work out you can always buy the new TV.

Even on my parents' 480p plasma I can tell the difference between DVD and HD DVD. The latter has much better colours and is more film like. Depth perception is also much better.

Posted on: 26 November 2008 by Jaseamondo

quote:
If your viewing distance is more than 160,5cm/3,5 feet you're eyes can not see the difference between 1080p and 720p.

100% correct unless you've got bionic eyes lol(1080p on smaller screens is more a marketing angle) . Tv's have moved on a fair bit in five years though, The new Pioneer range especially but no 42" any more . Panasonic may just be worth upgrading to but i would go with bwolkes advice first.( maybe you could swing a projector if you don't need a new telly

)

Posted on: 28 November 2008 by Rock Steady

Thanks for this, excellent advice as usual.
I'll go for the Blu Ray player and spend the rest of the cash on a hifi upgrade, or a projector.